Cyclone separator



Sept. 29, 1959 D. ORELLI ETAL CYCLONE SEPARATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledJune 9, 1954 INVENTOR DANIEL ORELLI RAYMOND BEAUQUESNEv D. ORELLI ETALSept. 29, 1959 CYCLONE SEPARATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 9, 1954FIG. 4

INVENTOR DANIEL ORELLI RAYMOND BEAUQUESNE United States Patent C)2,906,404 CYCLONE SEPARATOR Daniel Orelli, Marseille, and RaymondBeauquesne,

. Creteil, France Application June 9,1954, Serial No. 435,522

e 7 Claims. ,(Cl. 210-512 It has long been known to use cyclones forseparating from a fluid the solid particles which are suspended therein.

In such devices which are constituted by a frustoconical enclosure thetwo bases of which are in communication with the atmosphere, theproducts to be processed which are brought under pressure to or near theupper portion of this frustum of a cone, through a pipe arrangedtangentially to the circular wall, are whirling about an air core, thesolid particles being recovered at the lower orifice whereas thesuspending fluid escapes through an upper central pipe.

In the known devices, the air or the gas forming the central core entersthe conical portion either only through the upper portion, or throughboth portions simultaneously. Such air or gas is either at atmosphericpressure or at a higher pressure.

Applicants have found out that it was sometimes very difiicult tocontrol the separation process and particularly to keep the efliciencyof the apparatus up to a constant figure because for unexplained reasonsthe air core sometimes completely changed in form or disappearedaltogether during operation of the cyclone.

Finally, in some instances, the presence of such air or gas whichconstitutes the central core may interfere with the quality or thechemical composition of the products to be processed.

It is, therefore, a principal object of the invention to provide acyclone avoiding said drawbacks.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from a consideration ofthe specification and claims.

.According to the invention, the conventional central air core ispartially replaced by a solid cylindrical core element, around which theconcentric vortex of the fluid to be treatedrotates.

For optimum efiiciency, the core should always have exactly the diameterof the central vortex. It is impossible to satisfy this condition with asolid core, and the invention consists in providing an adjustable core,which consists of said solid cylindrical core and an axially expandablegaseous sheath surrounding said solid core. By inflating said gaseoussheath, the core can be adjusted to the required diameter.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the gaseous sheath isenclosedin an inflatable envelope so as to prevent contact between thegas of the core and the liquid to be treated.

In addition, means may be provided to modify the operation of thecyclone conforming to the desired results and to the requirements of thespecific materials treated.

A further embodiment of the invention consists in completing the cyclone-by having the outlet line for the solid particles to open into achamberthe dimensions of which are larger than those of said line inorder to bring about an expansion of the mixture containing saidparticles and to cause such particles to be separatedfrom the gases'which may have been entrained.

Patented Sept. 29, 1959 as means regulating the gas core and meanspreventing air or gas to be entrained by. the afliuent. V

It will be seen, from these figures, that the cyclone is constituted, asusual, by a first enclosure comprising a frusto-conical lower portion 1having its longitudinal axis arranged vertically, and the smaller base,which is at the bottom, provided with a pipe 2 for the outlet of theeflluent, a-ring 3 rigid with the upper larger base of the cone frustumand receiving a tangential pipe 4 for leading-in the fluid to betreated, a second enclosure 5 cy1indrical in shape and coaxially securedon top of the former, fitted with the pipe 6 for discharging the treatedfluid. Both enclosures are separated by a-partition 8 pierced with asingle central communication orifice 9 called overflow.

In Fig. 1, the core is constituted by a cylindrical bar 7 arranged onthe vertical axis of the cyclone. It may be held in place at its lowerend by means of centering lugs7p and at its upper end by a bushingthrough the upper dome.

Any other securing means may of course be contemplated, for instance thebar 7 may be centered by means of a frustum of a cone 25 which will bedealt with further on.

This rigid core 7, advantageously, could be substituted for the usualgaseous core should it be possible to calculate its cross-section to anaccurate degree with regard to the operational requirements of theapparatus. Such a calculation is found hardly possible and this is whythe diameter of the-core 7 should be modified. e

To this aim, it is possible to adopt either of the following embodimentsor a combination of same:

In Fig. 1, it will be seen that at the upper portion of the cyclone, aline 70 for a gas under pressure is axially arranged. This line iscoaxially disposed about the core 7' and provides about the rigid core afluid sheath 7b, the diameter of which is a function of the separationto be achieved.

Since the dimension of the core 7 determines the minimum efliciency, itis possible to vary this efficiency by modifying the diameter of thesheath.

In Fig. 2, the circumference of the core is defined by a cylindricalpocket made from an eXpansible material, for instance a rubber orplastic tube attached at both ends thereof to two rigid tubes 70 and 7dsecured to the frame and serving as a blowing nozzle for allowing saidtube to be inflated so that it maybe brought up to the diameterrequired.

In this modification the tubes 7c and 7d are connected by a rigid coreelement 7 inside the expansible envelope 7 b, and the complete corecomprises (Fig. 3) the central rigid core bar 7, the gaseous sheath 7bsurrounding the passage other than that which is formed by the interiorof said pipe.

In this manner, the apparatus may be adjusted to the composition andrate of flow ofthe liquid to be treated by modifying the sizelof thepassage from one enclosure into the other. This may be accomplished byreplacing the pipe in use by another of a different diameter.

In the case when the core is formed by a rigid tube (not shown) and agaseous sheath not enclosed Within an inflatable pocket, the inlet pipe7c'tor the air or gas, axially arranged at the upper portion of the dome5 opens into, a frustum of a cone 25 the smaller base of which isoriented downward and alone is open allowing the gaseous core to passtherethrough. Such a device constitutes a deflector which regulates theingress of the fluid into the collecting chamber.

It has been noted that, when the concentration of the solid particlesincreases at the apex ,of the cone 1, it becomes sometimes diflicult todischarge the etfluent. Such a drawback is removed when one or morepipes 24 are branched at different levels along the generatrix of thecone for introducing a liquid which is a diluent for the concentrate orat least reduces the viscosity thereof.

Finally, in order to avoid air or gas being entrained by the effluent,the pipe 2 opens into an expansion pot 23 which allows an expansion totake place by virtue of its diameter being larger than that of the pipe2. Such a pot receives the pipe 11 which makes it possible for both endsof the central gaseous core to be subjected to the same specificpressure. It will be seen, from Fig. 4, that the purified fraction ofthe treated fluid is discharged through the upper portion of the cyclonechamber, i.e. the so-called collecting chamber through. a pipe 6 whichopens tangentially into said chamber. This pipe 6 forms the horizontalportion of a lying T the arms 13a and 13b of which serve, respectively,for recovering any gas which may be contained in the treated fluid andfor discharging said treated fluid. The branch 13a communicates with theupper portion of the collecting chamber through the pipes 14 and 7c.Inside the branch 13b, near the communication with the pipe 6, afrusto-conical pipe 13c is welded to said pipe 1312 around its largerbase, the apex of the cone being directed down- Wardly.

The annular space between the inner wall ofthe tube 13b and the outerwall of the tube 13c communicates through a pipe 26 with the upperportion of the collecting chamber of the cyclone. Preferably, this tube26, of a fairly large cross-section, communicates with the pipe 70 whichhas a smaller diameter and which ensures a communication between thepipe 13 and said chamher.

This arrangement ensures that the gaseous cushion which forms in thepipe 13a is under the same pressure as the collecting chamber with whichit communicates through the pipes 14 and 7c and hence under the samepressure as the upper portion of the central gaseous core. Similarly,such a pressure equilibrium is also maintained between said collectingchamber and the discharge circuit due to the communication of saidchamber with the annular space between the interior of the pipe 13b andthe tube 130.

The described device, which maintains uniform gas pressure throughoutthe cyclone, allows to adjust the discharge rates of the concentrateefiiuent and the purified liquid without affecting the smooth operationof the apparatus.

As many changes could be made in the above construction, and manyapparently widely dilferent embodiments of this invention could be madewithout departing from the scope of the claims, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description or shown in he cc mpa y ns ngha be i t p t d as i l trative and not in a limiting sense. Particularlysuch cyclones may be used for the treatment of any solution.

What we claim is:

1. In a cyclone type separator adapted to separate by centrifugal actiona liquid containing solid impurities suspended therein into apl rifiedfraction and a fraction containing said impurities in concentrated form,said separator comprising, in combination, an upper cylindrical section;a lower frusto-conical section coaxially adjoining said 'cylindricalsection and extending with its conical end downwardly, a partitiondividing said upper section into two superposed compartments, the uppercompartment forming a collecting chamber for the purified fraction ofthe liquid and the lower compartment forming an injection head for theliquid to be treated, a central aperture in said partition providingcommunication between said upper and lower section, a tangentiallyarranged inlet for injecting liquid into said injection head, atangentially arranged outlet pipe for withdrawing purified liquid fromsaid collecting chamber, a discharge pipe connected to the conical endof said lower section for withdrawing the concentrated impurities, theimprovement which comprises a central core structure consisting of asolid inner cylindrical member, a gaseous axially expandable sheathsurrounding said solid member, an inflatable envelope enclosing saidgaseous sheath, and an inlet for the gas forming said gaseous sheath,said gas inlet being separate from the inlet for the liquid.

2. The cyclone separator of claim 1, wherein said core structure extendsfrom said partition to the conical end of said lower section.

3. The cyclone separator of claim 1, wherein said gaseous sheath of thecore extends throughout the height of the separator.

4. The cyclone separator of claim 1, including an inlet for supplyingthe gas for said gaseous sheath.

5. The cyclone separator of claim 1, including an expansion chamberbelow the conical end of said lower section, said discharge pipe openinginto said expansion chamber and releasing therein gas entrained by theconcentrate fraction of the treated liquid.

6. A cyclone separator as claimed in claim 1, wherein said outlet pipehas the form of a lying-'T comprising a horizontal leg and a vertical Tbar, said leg and the upper end of said T bar communicating with saidoutlet, the upper part of said T bar serving as a gas recovering chamberin communication with said collecting chamber, the lower part of said Tbar serving as a discharge tube for the purified liquid, afrusto-conical tube being Welded around its larger base inside saidlower part of said T bar below and near the junction of the leg and barof the T pipe, the outer surface of said frustoconical tube and theinner surface of said lower T bar portion defining an annular chamberreceiving gas entrained by said purified liquid.

7. The combination of claim 1, including a pipe connecting said annularchamber and the upper part of said collecting chamber.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS e manya 9

